Homeland
Security Is the Largest Federal Expansion in 50 Years Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
November 26, 2002

The
administration and Congress put the finishing touches on the monstrous
Homeland Security bill last week, creating the first new federal department
since the Department of Defense at the end of World War II. Laughably,
the new department has been characterized as merely a "reorganization"
of existing agencies, even though I notice no department was abolished
to make up for it! One thing we can be sure of in this world is that
federal agencies grow. The Homeland Security department, like all federal
agencies, will increase in size exponentially over the coming decades.
Its budget, number of employees, and the scope of its mission will EXPAND.
Congress has no idea what it will have created twenty or fifty years
hence, when less popular presidents have the full power of a domestic
spying agency at their disposal.

The frightening
details of the Homeland Security bill, which authorizes an unprecedented
level of warrantless spying on American citizens, are still emerging.
Those who still care about the Bill of Rights, particularly the 4th
amendment, have every reason to be alarmed. But the process by which
Congress created the bill is every bit as reprehensible as its contents.

Ironically,
many in Congress who usually champion limited government were enthusiastic
supporters of the largest federal expansion in 50 years. Twenty years
ago President Reagan revitalized conservatives across the country by
appealing to their Goldwater roots, promising to slash the size of government
and eliminate whole departments. Yet the promise of a smaller government
went unfulfilled, and today Congress passes budgets even larger that
those of the Clinton years.

Of course
the Homeland Security bill did receive some opposition from the President's
critics. Yet did they attack the legislation because it threatens to
debase the 4th amendment and create an Orwellian surveillance
society? Did they attack it because it will chill political dissent
or expand the drug war? No, they attacked it on the grounds that it
failed to secure enough high-paying federal union jobs, thus angering
one of Washington's most powerful special interest groups. Ultimately,
however, even the most prominent critics voted for the bill.

The lesson learned from the rush to create a Homeland Security department
is that the size and scope of government grows regardless of which party
is in power. The federal government now devours a whopping 40% of the
nation's GDP, the highest level since World War II  and a massive new
department can only make things worse. The Homeland Security bill provides
a vivid example of the uncontrolled spending culture in Washington,
a culture that views the true source of political power  your tax dollars 
as unlimited.

Ron
Paul, M.D., represents the 14th Congressional District of Texas in the
United States House of Representatives.